HOWELL — When Kara Sleeper slammed the volleyball through a block for the final point, it seemed almost personal.

By emphatically putting away the shot, it was as if Sleeper put away years of frustration for Howell.

“It was surreal, because I feel like everything we’ve done has worked up to this moment,” said Sleeper, a senior middle hitter. “We worked so hard. I just feel like it really paid off.”

Sleeper’s shot put an exclamation point on the Highlanders’ first postseason victory in eight years, a 25-22, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of Hartland in the Class A district semifinals Wednesday night at Howell.

Howell hadn’t won a state tournament match since beating Hartland in the 2009 district semifinals. The Highlanders will try to win their first district championship since the 2003-04 season when they host South Lyon at 6 p.m. Friday.

“It’s definitely making history this year,” said Sleeper, who had five blocks. “Even our record is making history. I’m just so excited for this Friday’s final.”

The Highlanders will take on a South Lyon team that won the Lakes Valley Conference with an 8-0 record and knocked off defending district champion Brighton, 3-1, in the other semifinal.

“It’s so cool,” said Howell senior outside hitter Ivy Earl, who had 14 kills and five aces. “I’m so excited for Friday. I’m ready to play South Lyon. We played them in August in a scrimmage. We didn’t do very well, but we have more energy now and we can definitely play with them.”

Howell has already avenged one loss from the regular season, having lost to Hartland in four sets on Sept. 21. The Highlanders celebrated Wednesday night, but Howell coach Jayne Williams had a gentle reminder for her team.

“Our work’s not done,” she said. “South Lyon is a very, very strong team. We’re going to have to step it up and be ready for them.”

The first game against Hartland was tied 14 times, the last time at 22-22, before Howell scored the final three points.

The Highlanders blew open an 8-7 lead in the second game with eight straight points.

Howell had to come from behind to win the third game, trailing 12-6 and 15-10. After losing the lead, Hartland went back up 22-19. With the game tied 23-23, Howell scored the last two points. On the final point, senior Paige Fowler set the ball at the net for Sleeper, who put a shot through a block attempt by Hartland’s Sylvia L’Esperance and Gabrielle Skinner.

“Hartland is a very strong team, but we were able to watch them on Monday and see some of the stuff they were doing and were able to make adjustments to that,” Williams said. “We had a lot of growth throughout the season all the way around and were able to be more aggressive and more confident.”

Laura Kipela had 24 digs and Jessica Krakowiak had 11 kills for Howell.

L’Esperance had 13 kills, Skinner had six solo blocks, Baylie Burgdorf had 18 assists and Amanda Maga had 15 digs for Hartland.

“It was a learning opportunity for all of us, myself included,” Hartland coach Nicole Sidge said. “It was my first year as head coach for them. Just how are we going to build from here?

“We do have a lot of returners, but we do have five seniors who are leaving. It was hard for them to cut their run short right here, but they put forth an awesome effort.”

Brighton, winner of six district championships in the last eight years, was eliminated in a rematch of last year’s district final, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

Down 12-5 in the fourth game, Brighton (31-13) battled back to tie the score, 15-15, but South Lyon went on a 6-1 run to regain control of the game and the match.

“We let some runs get to us, some points get to us,” Brighton coach Stephanie Oliver said. “We fought back in the fourth set as hard as we could to keep that score down. They were beating us 6-1 and we came back, but we didn’t finish it.”

Celia Cullen had 15 kills, 18 assists and 11 digs for Brighton. Heather L’Esperance, one of four seniors the Bulldogs will lose, had 13 digs and three aces. Annalise Berry had 13 digs and Madison Opre had 10 kills.

“South Lyon had some good hitters, No. 6 (Abigail Durecki) and No. 16 (Megan Mrocka),” Oliver said. “Our girls played as hard as they could. They gave everything they had tonight. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach.”